“Whoa, hyung, your face…” One of Seunghyun’s friends said as soon as he appeared to them at school that day.

“I know. I had a little trouble a few nights ago.” Seunghyun explained. “It’s nothing big, Youngbae.”

“’It’s ‘nothing big’? I feel sorry for the bastard that did that to you. Your father must be really pissed.” Youngbae replied.

“My father doesn’t know. I told our maids not to tell him or my stepmom anything when they get back from his business trip to Japan.” Seunghyun told his friend.

“Why not? Don’t you want justice for your face? Who’s the guy that did that to you, anyway?”

“I told you, it’s no big deal. Look, we’re going to be late for class.” Seunghyun replied, following the rest of his classmates going inside the schoolhouse. He tried to walk off, but Youngbae grabbed Seunghyun by the arm.

“It was Jiyong, wasn’t it?” He asked sternly.

Seunghyun pulled his arm away from him. “Don’t talk about it. I know that you know what happened between us in the past, but it still doesn’t give you a right to stick your nose in it, even if you’re my best friend.”

“It’s been quite awhile since that happened. I’m surprised he came back for more vengeance.” Youngbae commented. Seunghyun shot his friend another look, threatening him again to stop talking about it. The two boys headed inside the schoolhouse, where they were met with the rest of their friends, who all questioned the state of Seunghyun’s face. Seunghyun gave them the same answer he told Youngbae when he asked about it earlier.

“Come on, let’s beat him up. I feel like skipping school today for some fun.” Seunghyun’s friend said. “I wanna show that poor kid what’s it like to mess with our type.”

Seunghyun lowered his friend’s hands as they were about to mock-punch someone. “No, it’s okay. It’s not a big deal. Just stop talking about it so that I won’t have to deal with people asking me about it. I’m getting annoyed.”

Meanwhile, back at Eunji’s school, several girls were crowding over Sooyeon, asking her what she meant when she said Jiyong hurt Seunghyun.

“You mean Choi Seunghyun, heir to the Choi Corporation?” One girl asked curiously.

“Yes, him, I met up with Seunghyun the other day for lunch and… His beautiful face was ruined with a big ugly bruise that that Jiyong made!” Sooyeon accused.

The other girls gasped. “Oh! But he’s so handsome! Is it ruined forever??”

“No, but his ego is.” Sooyeon replied, pitifully.

From one corner of the room, Eunji sat at her desk. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Did Seunghyun really take a hit from Jiyong? And why would Jiyong ever do that to him? They haven’t spoken to each other in a long time. Could he still be bitter about that whole drama with the all boys’ academy? She’ll have to talk to him about it later. She couldn’t just sit there and watch Jiyong mess with Seunghyun. He was her one shot of happiness, and Jiyong is no candidate to ruin it for her.

The minute they were dismissed, Eunji dashed out of her classroom, hoping to catch Jiyong before he was gone. She first headed towards the Psychology classroom, knowing for sure that this was Jiyong’s last class of the day. Popping her head inside the doorway, Eunji saw that she had just missed by five minutes; his class already out the exit of the school building. Eunji sped past incoming students, dodged those who were approaching her, and even jumped above a kid who was picking up his books he dropped on the ground, just to reach Jiyong.

Just as she was about to reach out and touch him, Hyerin appeared right before her, causing Eunji to stumble a little backwards.

“Eunji,” Hyerin said, her voice friendly. Eunji was speechless. “I want to speak to you.”

Eunji didn’t know what to say. What else could Hyerin possibly say to her? Was she going to tell her to lay off Jiyong? Eunji couldn’t have done anything wrong to her, so what was the need to have a conversation?

Hyerin spoke again. “I know it’s completely odd for me to approach you like this, but… I’m sorry. I don’t think I’d want to go on hating and offending you. I know we were never friends, but at the same time, you were his ex but also his first love.”

Eunji was completely dumbfounded. What the hell was going on? What is Hyerin trying to say?

She continued. “Eunji, look, I know there must have been some sort of conflict between us concerning Ji. And part of that is my fault. I shouldn’t have been very rude and looked down on you. But I couldn’t help myself. Seeing that Jiyong was deeply hurt after what you did to him, well, I couldn’t tolerate that. I know I shouldn’t have stuck my nose in your business, but I just couldn’t see him like that. He loved you very much, while I…” Hyerin’s voice trailed off, then she took a deep breath. “For the longest time, I was in love with him the same way you were. I loved him even before you two were dating. I just never had the courage to speak up, because… well, you know how I looked like two years ago. I wasn’t as skinny as I am now, or even slightly pretty. I knew I couldn’t have him. So when he ended up with you, I was heartbroken. But what could I do about it? I couldn’t say that I deserved him. He was too beautiful for me.”

Eunji just stood there, speechless. So many things were running through her mind. There were so many things for her to process.

“Now that he’s with me, now that he’s mine, I feel happy. I feel ecstatic that my dream has finally come true… But there’s still that one part of me that is still worried that he might turn around and go back to you. That’s why I’m asking, Eunji – no, actually I beg you – please don’t take this away from me. I love him, but I can see that you’re still in love with him, too. I know that you’ve been trying to get him back, which scares me that he might actually do just that. So, please, Eunji, don’t take this away for me. Two years is a long wait for me, and I don’t want it all gone in an instant.”

Everything around Eunji seemed to disappear. It seemed as if it was just her and Hyerin standing outside the school building alone. Hyerin’s speech was shocking in so many ways. Because she never socialized or spoke to the girl, how could Eunji know this wasn’t all just an act? But at the same time, why would Hyerin put up an act just to ask her to stop chasing after Jiyong? This didn’t seem like her character at all. Why would she swallow all the pride she had just to ask a favor like this?

Eunji knew never to trust swindlers, but she could read people well. And for Hyerin’s case, she knew that Hyerin’s plea was genuine.

“Omo! Wait, she asked you to stop chasing after Jiyong?? She begged you?” Minyoung asked incredulously.

Minyoung and Sooyeon were both at Eunji’s place, after school, where she told them what Hyerin had just told her that same afternoon.

Eunji nodded. “Yeah, I didn’t know what to say at first. She was so random – “

“That’s good. Good thing you didn’t agree with her. I bet this is all an act.” Minyoung interrupted.

“Yeah, why would she say that anyway?” added Sooyeon. “It’s pretty obvious that you’re now with Seunghyun oppa.”

“Well, 1) I’m not ‘officially’ with him, 2) don’t say that, because I don’t want to jinx it, and 3) I have a strong feeling that her intentions are sincere.” I told them.

“Oh, that’s so like you, Eunji. You’re too soft-hearted to see the monsters behind people,” Minyoung scoffed.

“But you should’ve seen how heartfelt she looked – “ Eunji said, but was interrupted again, this time by Sooyeon.

“Eunji, what did you tell her?”

Eunji looked over at Minyoung, a little uneasy. “Um… Well, I told her that she could… um…”

“You told her what? What did you tell her?!” Minyoung challenged, causing Eunji to be even more scared of what her friend would say.

“I told her that she could go ahead and fall in love with him, because I’ve moved on!” Eunji said, scared that her friend might be even angrier if she didn’t say it sooner.

Minyoung slapped her forehead. “Aigoo… Eunji, what did you do??”

“What??” Eunji asked, defensively. “I thought that maybe letting go of him would be beneficial.”

Sooyeon looked at Eunji, concerned. At least she wasn’t exactly judging her for submitting to Hyerin. Gently, she asked her, “Are you sure that that’s what you want to do?”

Eunji took a deep breath. “Of course, this situation is no longer a matter of what I want to do. It’s now what I have to do… Do you think I should move on?”

Sooyeon looked at Minyoung, trying to find a good way to answer their friend.

Eunji asked again, “If Jiyong would ever turn around, would it be foolish of me to go back with him? Please, tell me, honestly.”

“Well…” Minyoung tried to speak, but was stopped by Sooyeon, who knew that Minyoung could be quite blunt with the truth.

“No, Sooyeon, let her speak.” Eunji said.

Sooyeon backed down, and allowed Minyoung to continue who said, “To put it simply: Yes, you’re going to look like an idiot going back to the same guy that acted like such a jerk to you.”

Eunji sighed, looking down in shame. Sooyeon went over to comfort her. “At least Seunghyun oppa came along. Dating a guy like him would totally bring your reputation back up to sync.”

Eunji shot her head back up to look at Sooyeon with a puzzled expression. “What?”

Sooyeon shot an uneasy look over at Minyoung, who didn’t look too pleased.

“What are you talking about?” Eunij asked again, this time more sternly.

“Um… Minyoung will tell you!” Sooyeon pointed at Minyoung, looking away to avoid eye contact with Eunji.

Minyoung gasped, shocked that her own friend would throw her under the bus. Eunji looked over at Minyoung, anticipating an answer.

“Oh… uh… it’s n-nothing. Sooyeon’s just crazy.” Minyoung stuttered. Obviously, her friends were hiding something from her, and she decided to not let them leave the room until they told her what was needed to be said.

“I will give you until the count of three to tell me what you two are hiding from me, and if you don’t tell me what it is…” Eunji paused, thinking of a good consequence. “Or else I’ll starve you two overnight. I know how easily it is to make you hungry.”

“As if you’re capable of doing that. We have to be home by 8 tonight, anyway. Our mothers won’t – “ Minyoung ridiculed, but was quickly intercepted by Eun Ji.

“You think so? Try me.” She challenged, pulling up a chair by her doorway and taking a seat on it.

Sighing, Sooyeon got up and spoke. “As best friends, we have no right to keep this from you. But let me tell you, before I go on, that we only kept it from you to spare your feelings. You know how much we care about you.”

Eun Ji sat up, ready to listen to intently.

Sooyeon resumed. “When you were absent, people began finding out about what happened between you and Jiyong. At first, they were all taking your side, saying that he was a complete bastard for not giving you a chance. But… Someone told them his side of the story, recounting his pain when you broke up with him unexpectedly. That’s when their prejudice was turned against you. Everyone started talking bad about you, saying that you were an ‘uptight ’ that deserved what she got…”

“At first, it was just one or two who were saying that, so, naturally, I took care of them.” Minyoung added. “But then, so many people were certain that all the blame for this drama is yours that we couldn’t just take care of them ourselves.”

Eun Ji gazed into space, trying to fully process what her best friends had just told her. Were people really talking about her behind her back? They seemed so welcoming the day she came back to school. How could they possibly say such things and then act like nothing was said?

“On the brightside, you’ve now got Seunghyun as a prospect, which in turn, might bring you back to popular appeal.” Sooyeon assured her friend. Eun Ji dropped her head in her hands, feeling ashamed and hurt.

“Also, all that talk died down the minute you came to school.” Minyoung said.

Eun Ji replied, dryly, “Oh, wow, that makes me feel better. They know when not to say something to my face.”

“Don’t listen to them. Just live life, have fun, and most importantly, forget Jiyong.” Sooyeon said, trying to comfort her friend.

“Forget him. Eternally.” Minyoung added.

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A/N: I don't know why, but I really hate my writing... I was re-reading the previous chapters and I just... hate it. I probably should do a better job in the next chapters. And when I say that, I not only mean just my writing, I also mean the plot and storyline. I feel as if the plot reached it's peak, and it's now going all downhill from here. >.< I will work on that! Anyway, what do you think about this chapter??