“NICE!”

Wendy gave Seulgi a thumbs up when she met her friend at the school building’s lobby. Seulgi just smiled at her friend as she walked towards her. “Long time no see, Wendy.”

The smaller girl gave her a bitter smile. “‘I’m sorry, Seulgi. When we were about to visit you again, there was an order from Uncle Geumho to not accept visitors. It wasn’t like we didn’t want to visit you.”

“It’s fine.” Seulgi pressed her lips together. “Father said that I have to focus on getting better so I can get back to school. He doesn’t want me to miss a semester.”

“Man, you got a heart attack while driving and had a freaking heart transplant. At the very least, they should’ve let you rest even one semester.” Wendy blew her bangs upward. “Sometimes, your family’s ideals don't really make sense.”

Seulgi just stayed silent but she completely agreed with her friend. While it might be true that she got a heart attack while driving, she got it because of the strong emotion of wanting to kill herself. Her family doesn’t realise the severity of her situation.

“Wendy…” Seulgi called as they walked towards their classroom. “I don’t think I will be able to kill myself anymore.”

The smaller girl froze. Seulgi were already two steps ahead when she noticed Wendy stopped in her tracks. She turned at her with those tired eyes only to see her friend tearing up.

“Stop talking about that, stupid Seulgi.” Wendy looked to the side as she bit her lower lip in frustration. “You better stop with that. That would be the last time that you would try!”

“I know…”

Seulgi’s exhausted tone made Wendy look back at her. The taller girl had her eyes on the ground while her right hand by her chest.

“Someone died in order for me to get this heart, in order for me to get better health…” Seulgi then looked up to the speaker when a familiar song started playing. “I feel like I would kill the owner of the heart again once I tried killing myself.”

“Alright, alright! Stop talking like you were the one who killed the owner of the heart though. Wendy grabbed Seulgi by the shoulders and started dragging her. “That’s why you have to be a good girl now and not do anything that will harm yourself, okay?”

“Hm.” Seulgi nodded. “I will take care of myself properly.”

“That’s good then.” They were climbing the stairs when they noticed a gathering outside. They saw students putting flowers and posting sticky notes by the little stage specially built to stay for a whole week. Wendy took the opportunity to put stress to her stand.

“I heard that a sunbae actually died in an accident during the break. He was about to debut as a band guitarist and singer but it all shattered because of an accident…” Wendy gently pushed her fist on Seulgi’s shoulder. “Unlike him, you can still dream. Death might end all your sufferings in this world, but it will also end your own happiness and not just that, even the happiness of the people who care for you.”

Seulgi felt her heart ache a bit when she remembered someone. Just as expected, Wendy’s words pierced through her. ‘I wonder how Irene is doing. I couldn’t even show myself to her.’

When they were about to get back to their tracks, a girl in a long padding was on her way downstairs. She passed by very quickly but Seulgi felt her world stop when she recognised the said girl.

She wasn’t wearing makeup like she usually does, her hair was in a messy bun too. She was even wearing thick round glasses but Seulgi still recognised her—well, it was more like her new heart recognised her since it was the first time it beat loudly after she acquired it.

Seulgi followed the girl with her stare. A sigh then came out from Wendy.

“That’s the girlfriend of the sunbae who died. There’s a rumour that she is being blamed for what happened even though it was clear that someone else was at fault at their accident. I also heard that she has already given up singing and will just focus on one major.”

“It’s a waste…” Seulgi sighed. “I really like her voice.”

Wendy could only sigh. At times like this, Seulgi would already ask how come she knows a lot but her expression remained the same.

“We can’t help it.” Wendy started dragging her again. “The loss of her boyfriend is a big trauma for her, especially since she was also in the car at that time. It’s just admirable that she could still come to school after everything that happened. Just think of what will happen to Sooyoung if you die, she’d surely be like that.”

Seulgi tried to look down but the said senior was nowhere near her line of sight anymore.

‘Irene—no, I don’t think I have the right to call you by that name…’ Seulgi clenched her chest again. ‘But what should I do, even this new heart is yearning for you.’

CONFUSED as hell, Seulgi watched Yerim laugh her heart out until her stomach felt like exploding. She just told her that she was the reason why her brother got into an accident that ultimately led to his death but why is she laughing now? Has she lost her mind after finding out that the person she has been trusting all this time is actually the reason why she lost an important person from her life?

“Y-Yeri-ya…” Seulgi called, wiping the almost dry tears from her face. “A-Are you okay? W-Why are you laughing like this?”

“I’m sorry—” Yeri bursted out laughing again. The whole shop’s attention was on them. Just a while ago, Seulgi was bathing to her own tears but now Yerim is going crazy laughing. The workers were already considering driving them away or else they might drive the other customers for their creepiness.

“It’s just so funny!” Yerim couldn’t stop laughing.

“What’s funny with what I said!?” Seulgi asked in a mix of frustration and confusion. “I just told you that I technically killed your brother—”

Seulgi was silenced when Yerim shoved a huge scoop of ice cream in . “Answer me, babo unnie. What kind of vehicle were you riding at that time?”

“W-What else, it was my car.”

“Where did your accident happen again?”

“As far as I remember, I was going south back then.” Seulgi tried to recall which road it was. “I was told that it was near the Olympic Hall.”

“O~kay, and do you know where my brother’s accident happened?” Yeri asked with her arms crossed. “Tell me, ba~bo unnie.”

“Where else, near the Olympic Hall as well—”

“It’s indeed in the Olympic Park but it was nowhere near the Olympic Hall!”

Seulgi froze. She didn’t exactly understand what Yerim was trying to say. “What?”

“So it was you, huh?” Yerim smirked. “Listen, Seulgi-unnie. Do you know that there were two accidents by the Olympic Park that day?”

“T-Two?”

“Yes, first is my brother’s and Joohyun-unnie’s accident. It was in Gangdong-daero, just near Yejun-oppa’s agency.” Yerim then shook her head. “They were fighting about how their relationship would go after Oppa was told that he is set to debut soon. They were in the middle of pulling the car over to have a better conversation but a bus came running towards them. It was a bus, Seulgi-unnie. Not your car.”

Seulgi’s eyes widened even more. She felt like she had double eyelids for a split second after they reverted back to their normal size. “W-What do you mean?”

“I don’t know where you get the idea that you were the one who caused the accident. You were almost wailing.” Yerim then searched the news on the internet and showed it to Seulgi as a proof. The details of the said accident are complete aside from the names of the victims. Joohyun’s name wasn’t mentioned. She was just mentioned as the girlfriend of the deceased.

"And just like what you said, the other accident happened on the other side of the park, around the Olympic Hall. It may not be on the news but I know about it because the road wasn't accessible while we were on our way to the nearest hospital where Oppa and Joohyun-unnie were taken."

“W-What—”

“That just means you weren’t the reason for the accident! You were crying for nothing!”

Seulgi felt her head ache for a moment. All this time she was blaming herself for what happened to Joohyun’s boyfriend, for Joohyun giving up her dream to be a singer, for Joohyun’s suffering at all… But, she actually doesn’t have anything to do with the whole situation?

“Here.” Yerim showed her the news articles about the incident by the Olympic Hall. It was indeed a traffic incident but thankfully, there was no casualty. It was probably one of the reasons why it wasn’t even in the TV news.

It is also written in the article that the cause of the multiple collision was a car whose driver had a cardiac arrest while driving but the said driver also survived after being rushed to the nearest hospital.

“I told you. Yours is a different case.” Yerim scoffed in sarcasm. “You should apologise to those you actually injured than to my brother who is already resting in heaven. He’s probably throwing tantrums seeing that the receiver of his heart thought she was the one who killed him.”

Seulgi’s swollen eyes squinted. If this was really the case, what made her so sure that she was involved in Joohyun’s accident? Who relayed the news of her accident to her again? Even that important detail she couldn’t remember properly because the moment she woke up she already had a new heart.

And yes, even when she woke up after the surgery, none of her family members were there waiting for her to get her consciousness back. It was only her nanny that was there.

“Was it Imo that told me?” She blurted out as she went deep into her thoughts. “Wait, I don’t think so… Goodness, why can’t I remember well?”

“I don’t think someone relayed the wrong news to you.” Yeri smiled. “I think you just felt really sad for Joohyun-unnie after she lost my brother. And then, when you found out who your donor was, you felt guilty and your mind started playing with you.”

“Do you think I am that stupid?” Seulgi asked, pointing to herself.

“No,” The younger girl slowly shook her head. “You are that kind. Your kindness makes you look like a stupid person most of the time. And…”

Yerim stared blankly at her melting ice cream. “You are that sad… You felt really bad that someone who has dreams died to save someone who has already given up on life. That’s why you made yourself believe that it was your fault.”

“Woah… Are you really sure of this?” Seulgi slid forward on the table, her head pushing her ice cream cup towards Yerim. “All this time… I feel like a thorn was taken out o