iv.

Hyeju’s feet landed right at the door of the library as the bell sounded above her. She wanted to be there early to pick her perfect niche during study hall for the rest of the year, but her encounter with Sehun delayed her wishes. Moving away from the direct sunlight beaming into the monumental windows, she settled on a seat nestled into the far corner of the library.

“Hyeju!” 

She recognized the voice, but it only made her quicken her pace. 

“Hyeju! Wait up!” 

She stopped abruptly and turned around.

“Almost ran into you there!” Katie laughed. “What’s up?”

“It’s study hall.”

“Well, yeah,” she replied awkwardly, obviously not prepared for Hyeju’s curt and plain responses, “but I was hoping we could maybe catch up a bit before we actually have to go to class.”

“I have a— a thing, to uh, study for,” Hyeju said, backing up step by step. “I should probably get to it.”

“You never change, do you? It’s the second day of school. What are you talking about? C’mon!”

Katie grabbed Hyeju by the arm and directed her straight to the couch on the opposite side of the library. It was only then that Hyeju noticed the changes in Katie’s appearance. Her skin had a slight golden tan, her hair was dyed an orange-toned color with blonde highlights, and her eyes were much brighter than they used to be. Sitting down on the couch, she tried to glance down at her own appearance, only noticing her pale, anemic skin tone, split ends, and chipped nail varnish.

“I’ve missed you. I thought a lot about you when I was in New York. There were so many things I knew we would have enjoyed doing together!” 

The saccharine in her voice only made Hyeju more annoyed and willing to flee at any possible moment. She tried to tune her voice out, but still pretended to have somewhat of an interest in conversation. The words escaping Katie’s mouth escaped Hyeju’s mind as well, but it still took effort.

“I’m so glad we found each other again. I mean I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised since the chances of you moving are not that high.” Katie realized she was losing Hyeju’s attention and decided to change the subject to something more on common ground. “So I heard you and Chanyeol are good friends.”

“Excuse me?” Hyeju tried to keep her voice polite, but the mention of one unfaithful friend by another unfaithful friend was tauntingly testing her patience.

“You and Chanyeol. He talks about you a lot actually. You guys are in some kind of fight?”

“I think for something to be considered a fight, both sides have to actually give a . And what gives you the right to talk about him to me?”

“The right?” Katie couldn’t hold in a scoff. “I’m sorry, but isn’t it my right to talk about whatever pleases me? Not you? I didn’t realize how bitter you turned.”

“Is that what you pulled me aside to do? Act all sweet and friendly and then use it to turn my reactions into blows against me? I really don’t think you should be asking what happened to me. I should be asking what happened to you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and act bitter somewhere else—somewhere I can actually breathe normally without wanting to break something.”

Just as Hyeju stood up to return to her niche, the bell rang for the next class. She sighed in ang