Jeongyeon had grown tired of the constant silence that had taken possession of the apartment and, clenching her fists tightly to get courage, she had walked briskly to her roommate's room "we need to talk"

"You're right, the time has come" putting away the laptop was a spontaneous and useful gesture to keep her hands busy for a few seconds.

"I'm tired of this situation and I hate not being able to spend time with you as we used to do. I miss you, I don't want things to change"

Nayeon had finally made up her mind to look into her eyes "Jeong, everything has already changed. You have changed, I have changed and our relationship has also changed; it was inevitable considering what we did"

"We could fix everything if we just stopped ignoring each other, we have never shied away from each other in all these years and I have no intention of losing you now. I made a mistake as big as a building and I take full responsibility for it, but please don't get away from me because I could not bear it"

"You weren't the only one wrong, stop blaming yourself" their gazes were finally chained to each other "I was already aware of your feelings for me and despite knowing I still chose to go through with it so if we want to blame someone then we should point the finger at me"

Jeongyeon had remained silent to assimilate that information, widening her eyes a few seconds later "did you know?"

"Yes and I also know I'm a horrible person for not stopping you that night. I'm sorry and I'm ready to listen to you if you want to insult me, I deserve it"

"You're a " the speed with which she had approached the older had caused her to retreat in surprise, but Jeongyeon had still managed to push her onto the bed and lock her wrists "how long have you known?"

Nayeon had not put up the slightest resistance, aware of deserving such treatment "for a few months, living with you has introduced me to sides of your person that I had never seen"

"Why didn't you say anything? If we had talked about it we wouldn't have reached this point"

"I was afraid, when these feelings are involved it is impossible to carry on a friendship like ours and the mere thought of losing you made me keep my mouth shut. I'm not justifying myself, but it's the reality of the facts"

"Nay, how do you feel about me? I want to know the truth"

Nayeon's cheeks had taken on a strong shade of red and her eyes, despite her enormous efforts to keep them fixed on those of the blonde, had dropped to linger on her lips.

Jeongyeon said nothing, intent on pulling out the words she wanted to hear at any cost. She had brought her face close to that of the older, just enough for their breath to mingle, and she had brought her hands up to join hers in a firmer grip.

"Don't do this to me" Nayeon's voice came out in a whisper.

"Talk to me and I'll leave immediately"

"I don't want you to go away" at that moment she was holding their hands together, not at all willing to let her go "get closer"

Despite the countless butterflies in her stomach, Jeongyeon did not want to satisfy her request, not without having something in return "first I want to know how you feel for me, I think I deserve it"

"I'm a little confused about my feelings because they are always the same, but amplified and that means I may have been in love with you for a long time. I can assure you that I can't stop thinking about you and the night we spent together"

"This answer was satisfying" she didn't add anything else, she was too focused on kissing her no longer best friend. They had a lot of time to talk and the only thing to do right now was to get rid of the clothes that kept their bodies separate.

Dahyun had never been the kind of person who gets excited about receiving a phone call, but seeing the name of the person she couldn't help but think of had made her roll in bed with excitement. Despite that she had replied in her usual cold and detached voice "hello?"

"Dahyun.." Sana sniffed "my birthday is December twenty-nine. Remember these four numbers"

"I'm a little confused" she couldn't understand what the noises she heard were "are you crying?"

"I told you you can't talk on the phone without my permission, don't force me to put my hands on you again" Sam's voice sounded different and scary "if you don't want to lose everything you better start acting like a real girlfriend, do you want me to tell your parents to undo everything? You know I can take anything out of you with a snap of my fingers"

Dahyun could no longer see in anger: her impassivity had disappeared to give way to blind fury and impossible to stop. She hated driving, but she hadn't thought twice about getting into her car and skidding away.

The call had not yet been cut off and hearing the way that worm was threatening a helpless person was fueling the malice that resided within her. She was aware that she had to call the police, but she wanted to beat him with her own hands before. 

Entering the code to open the front door had been as easy after understanding Sana's reason for telling her her date of birth, as it had been to reach the bedroom and grab the T-shirt of that subspecies of human being to slam him to the wall "don't you even a little bit to treat her like this?"

Hearing no response, her fist moved by itself, striking so hard it broke his nose. The sound of the breaking had been like music to her ears, it had made her smile in a way that was not at all reassuring.

"You shouldn't be happy, you're not aware of the things I've done to her" Sam was holding a hand over his now broken nose, struggling to speak and stand up from the pain.

Sana had a split lip and was completely covered by her clothes despite the fact that it was very hot, but Dahyun could see a bruise on her face, which was not covered enough by some foundation.

"It won't be that bad to live in a cell, I'll walk into it with a smile knowing I've eliminated a parasite like you" she turned to smile as reassuringly as possible at the girl huddled in the far corner of the room "don't look, okay? It will all be fine"

As much as Sam stood tall and looked well placed, his physical strength was nothing special and his pain threshold was incredibly low. It had been easy to drop him to the ground to punch him on his swollen and bleeding face, not feeling the slightest hint of pity.

The man was crying with pain and fear of losing his face, but Dahyun's fists didn't want to stop hitting blindly, ignoring the spatters of blood and pain in her hands.

To stop the umpteenth blow, against all odds, it was Sana, who had tightened the arm of the brunette with all her strength. She was crying, tears were running fast down her face and her eyes were swollen "stop it, please. You're not a monster like him, don't ruin your life for a stupid revenge. I called the police, I told them you acted to self defense and it's our word against his, so calm down before they arrive or you will be indefensible"

"Leave me, he has to pay for what he did to you" she was shaking with anger.

"He will do it in prison, but if you don't stop you will have the same fate as him. If you really don't want to do it for yourself, do it for me, I beg you. I don't want to lose you"

The sound of the police car sirens could be heard from a distance and Dahyun had stood up to push her away from the man who was writhing in pain. She had been holding her close the whole time, as if she wanted to protect her even from the officers who had arrested Sam.

Once they were left alone, the first thing the brunette felt like doing was to look at the other girl from head to toe "tell me it's not as bad as I think"

"I just have a few bruises, he didn't do anything else luckily, but this time he really scared me because he threw a vase at me and he wanted to take off his belt" she couldn't even gesticulate from how much she was shaking.

"The reason for this disgusting behavior would be?"

"He was annoyed that I behaved like an acquaintance and not like his girlfriend" she grabbed her shirt to pull her into the bathroom, turning on the cold water from the sink "wash your hands in the meantime, they are full of blood"

Dahyun immediately executed "aren't you afraid to be near me after what you went through with that ?"

"Why should I? I know you wouldn't even touch me with a finger, you wouldn't even if you were to be  really mad at me"

"It's true, I could never hurt you" she said with such sincerity that it made her feel embarrassed, but she didn't feel like being a and taking it all back as she used to, so she just wiped her hands with studied slowness.

Sana had never lost sight of her "I did well to put my trust in you, you arrived sooner than I hoped and you immediately resolved the situation. I really don't know how to thank you"

"Thank me by staying away from ty people like him, that would be more than enough for me"

"There would be a way to stop me from doing it, but in this case it is not up to me"

"I'm not the right person to have next to you, if that's what you're talking about. Let's go sit down, your legs are still shaking"

They had remained silent during the short ride from the bathroom to Sana's room and she just couldn't look up from the ground "I'm not enough for you, right?"

"It's the opposite of what you think, believe me"

"Aren't you a sincere person?"

Dahyun sat next to her on the bed, neither too far nor too close "on the contrary, I'm not the type to want to put my foot in more shoes. The fact is that I can't express what I feel without having to put in a lot of effort and I'm basically a cold person, I tend to turn off in my bad moments and it wouldn't be right to drag someone with me into my miserable existence"

"What if I wanted to be with you despite all these things? Would you give me consent to do so?"

"I'm sorry but no, I couldn't bear another loss"

Sana had taken her hand gently, being careful not to hurt her "I'm here to stay, not to go away"

"I have already heard this phrase, many times" her smile was sad "everyone gets tired of me and those who haven't done it yet are because they don't spend too much time in my company. I expect it at any time"

"You can't be sure that things are always going for the best, but it wouldn't be right to deprive yourself of something because you are blinded by the fear of suffering. And then, as far as I'm concerned, I've been trying to get close to you since the evening in we met and with all the effort I'm doing I don't think I'd get tired of being with you"

Dahyun's hand had closed to enclose the auburn's hand in a sweet squeeze "so why, if you like me so much, did you let yourself be approached by an ?"

It had taken a few seconds to hear the response, as Sana's brain didn't want to ignite "you're shaking my hand, I can't believe it" she was smiling and her flushed cheeks had helped make her even more adorable" I only did it because it was my family who forced me to stay with someone rich and of good name"

"Let me understand: in order not to have problems, would it be enough for you to get engaged to a person from a good family?"

"That's what I said, why are you asking me?" not having received an answer from her was making her very curious "answer me, I asked you a question!"

Despite Sana's pouting and constant complaints, the brunette's mind was somewhere else, immersed in something that not even Dahyun could imagine the outcome of.

Driving and singing at the same time was one of Momo's favorite activities, who was deliberately ignoring Tzuyu's disgusted face sitting in the back seat with Mina "sing too, don't be boring. This song rocks!"

"Something happened with Jihyo, that's why she's dragging us to a party and she's singing like a chicken that's being strangled"

Mina felt embarrassed, but she had to admit she was amused by that unusual situation "when things go wrong do you crash parties in clubs?"

"Sometimes, we do it to let loose and rest assured, that idiot would never dream of betraying Jihyo. She knows she can't be up to finding someone like her"

"Look, I hear you, damn titan"

"It means that your hearing hasn't abandoned you yet, congratulations. Now tell me why you forced us to follow you, I want to remind you and make you feel sorry for having ruined our evening of pampering and movies"

"Out of seven possible people you were the only ones who answered the phone" she suddenly got serious "and don't tell me I counted wrong because I know very well I didn't include Jihyo, I have my reasons"

Tzuyu was playing with the hair of the girl next to her "could you tell us what happened, or rather, what have you done?"

Momo's eyes were focused on the road, but at the same time they were reliving the scenario that had happened just before: she and Jihyo were kissing and, only a breath of wind later, the redhead had suddenly moved away asking the first to repeat what she had said.

"I told her I miss her even though I was holding her in my arms at the time. I was a real fool and hurt her more than I like to admit, but I just couldn't hold back those words. Don't get me wrong, I love Jihyo with all of myself, but the person she has become is not the same person I fell madly in love with. I shouldn't make comparisons, but what I feel for the current Jihyo is not on par, what was there before has no equal for me"

Mina's eyes were clouded from the tears she was holding back "you did the thing she feared the most, that's why she didn't want to get close to you"

"I know I have been a horrible person and I have every intention of being forgiven, but for this night help me to relax a little. I need to recover myself from the burdens I carry around"

Tzuyu nodded slowly and reached out to put her hand on her friend's shoulder "okay, but if you don't treat her the way she deserves I'll be the first to kick your , okay?"

"I will, but now I just want to drink until I get drunk and steal the place from the club DJ"

Even Mina had consented to that request, despite the enormous concern for the redhead, and was determined to solve the problem starting from the root. Helping Momo accept that situation would also benefit Jihyo.

The club was much noisier than they used to go to with other members of their small group, but at the same time it felt quieter.

It had been easy to find a place to sit, albeit small considering the round table at their favorite club, but they certainly couldn't complain. Momo had set out to charge on her mission to replace the poor man in charge of music after a simple beer.

The other two had to admit it: Momo knew how to do it when it came to very upbeat music and they all got up to dance. Tzuyu smiled at her favorite person "would you like to join the party?"

"I prefer to stay here, but you can go, I see you want to go wild" she returned the smile "I will look at you from here like a hawk"

"I'll be back soon" she leaned over to give her a quick kiss before reaching the other moving bodies. She was also having a lot of fun just playing the fool to make the girl who was sitting on the stool laugh.

Mina had laughed the whole time, quitting when a girl got too close to Tzuyu to get her attention. She was beautiful, she moved really well, and even though Tzuyu's feelings were strong, she couldn't help but observe that stranger.

The grip in the stomach of the still sitting girl had been worse than usual and she hated that feeling, it made her turn off as if someone had pressed a switch connected to her emotions.

However, she had no intention of staying and watching: she had gathered all the courage she possessed and had stood up, headed to the point where there was the person she was falling in love with more and more every day.

Tzuyu, seeing her approaching at a brisk pace, immediately forgot the person who was obviously trying to hit on her. She wanted to express her astonishment with a question, but Mina's lips immediately collided with hers for a kiss that could not be called chaste.

Despite the surprise her body had reacted automatically and her hands were firmly on the hips of the shorter girl, who had never dared to take such an initiative in her life and who was unaware of the effect her actions were having on her.

"All you do is take me by surprise and this thing drives me crazy" she hadn't screamed, they were both very good at lip-reading.

Mina had her cheeks and neck flushed with embarrassment, but got to that point she had no intention of holding back "do you still want to dance with me?"

"I'm ready to dance with you all night, you don't even have to ask"

"I don't want to stay here all the time, when we get tired take me home with you"

Tzuyu's heart had started beating much faster than it was already doing "are you sure? You know you don't have to come with me, I don't want to mess with Chae"

"Probably not even she will come back tonight and I don't want to miss this opportunity. Don't dampen my courage" she approached to give her another kiss "I want to be yours, in these hours there will be no one but you"

They kissed again, indulging in the music soon after, enjoying teasing each other between moves and having fun like never before, but the night wasn't over yet. They were only at the beginning.