24 hours earlier

21:45 KST 

Kim Jinwoo

This day was special—it was supposed to be special. I have waited twelve long months to consider this special. Because anniversaries were supposed to be special, weren’t they? To commemorate a year full of beautiful memories, of warmth.  Laughter.  A year full of love.

And yet, as I stood here, shoulder grazed against the door frame, stunned down to my core, I decided to throw this day straight into the list of the worst days in my entire puny existence.   

“Why?”

A series of encompassing emotions rushed through me in a form of rough, tidal waves as I began to process the sight in front of me. It was so overwhelming, each emotion so profound that I did not know which one to feel first; shock, betrayal, pain, confusion. All I knew was that I was crumbling from the inside, piece by piece.

Surprise, Kim Jinwoo. Happy anniversary to you and your blind-sided love.

I curled my hands into tight fists, the bouquet of roses trembling within my grasp. I was well aware of the thorns pricking into my palm, and yet I didn’t care. My eyes were transfixed and they refused to listen despite my internal protests to look away. My mouth remained sewn shut, numb as it failed to serve its purpose. Frankly, I should be screaming bloody murder right now, moving in a blind rage while I pounce on Song Minho. Punch his thick-skinned face, until blood oozed from his traitorous lips. Punch him until his face was all ruined, and Kim Jisoo would cringe away from the sight, disgusted at the mess of blood and bruises he would become. I should damn be doing that right now.

And yet I didn’t.

Instead, I simply watched—painstakingly watched—as the two of the most important people in my life share a passionate kiss with each other. Annoyingly passionate that they forgot the world existing around them, that they forgot about me.

I could feel a knife stabbing my heart, stabbing at it again and again and again.

Since when have they been lying to me?

A year full of love? Hah. What a fool.

Anger then seemed to have startled my stubborn mind because, finally, my feet jolted to a start. But instead of lunging towards them, I stepped backwards. One, two, three steps away, then I turned around and walked furiously away from them. There, back at her doorstep, I have left my bleeding heart and returned to my car. I drove aimlessly away from Jisoo’s house.

Right, I was a fool.

I was a pathetic fool because instead of lurching towards them and break the neck of my best friend, I turned around and stormed away from the reality that abruptly morphed into a nightmare before my very eyes. I have never unexpected this kind of betrayal—never even expected a betrayal at all. And I never expected it to come from them.

She said she loved me.

And I believed her.

He said he would always be my friend.

“Brothers forever.”

And I believed him.

ing . Conniving .

Screw them! Screw them all!

But maybe this was my fault. Maybe I was just too naïve to notice the signs. The innocent hyung, the ever-so-kind Kim Jinwoo, always too gentle and guileless to notice the affair between his girlfriend and best friend. Maybe this was why Seungyoon didn’t favor the idea of Jisoo being my girlfriend, or why Taehyun kept insisting I find another girl because she ‘didn’t deserve’ me. I never understood then. I thought they were being unnecessarily rude, and senseless, because the foolish, love-struck me believed everything about Jisoo was perfection. I liked her so much; I dismissed the idea of her infidelity, the possibility of it. Maybe everyone already knew about it, and I was the only one left in the dark.

I’m a so stupid. So damn stupid. 

My grip tightened around the handle until spots of scarlet blossomed throughout my knuckles.  I couldn't think straight anymore. I was just so angry at so many things. White hot rage burned within me. A vicious flame leaking up my insides, and it hurt. It hurt so much that I began to lose control. Slamming my feet against the accelerator, I drove in a speed I never dared using before. Ever