“And in the end he actually ended up liking the color!” Youngjae laughed.

            The teenagers sitting around the table laughed or shouted words of disbelief. Their reactions made Youngjae smile even wider as she soaked up their attention.

            “Your neighbor really didn’t care?” A boy asked.

            Youngjae shook her head. “Ruined part of the prank, but Daehyun and I would smile whenever we saw the dog walk by with its blue hair.”

            “I never knew you were so good at pranks, Youngjae!” A girl looked at her with eyes full of admiration.

            “So true,” The boy swung his arm around Youngjae’s shoulders and pulled her close to him. He smiled down at Youngjae, his incredible height noticeable even when sitting down. “There is so much still to learn about you.”

            “A girl needs her secrets,” Youngjae was conflicted, wanting to stay leaned against the boy, but also feeling the need to pull away. The reasons on both sides were mounting higher and higher in her head.

            “Ah, but I don’t like secrets.” He looked at her with a knowing look, one that bypassed the other students.

            “You better be careful, Zelo.” One boy laughed. “Youngjae already has a girlfriend.”

            Zelo shrugged, but left his arm around Youngjae’s shoulders. “She has a girlfriend, but she doesn’t have a boyfriend. Perhaps I could fill that spot for you?”

            Youngjae laughed and finally took the initiative to remove Zelo’s arm and sit upright. “Just one significant other is enough for me.”

            Many people patted Zelo on the back or laughed at the little scene, but Youngjae was the only one to see Zelo tense and taller boy’s smile was now fake. His change in demeanor made Youngjae curious but with all the people around taking up his attention there was no way for him to fully analyze the situation.

            They continued to sit in the diner, talking and laughing, even after their food was eaten and drinks were drunk. Youngjae kept peering at her watch, realizing that it would be another day she wouldn’t be able to hang out with Daehyun at all. She wanted to leave, finally being tired of hanging out with people all day, but she had to stay. She had to stay, for herself and for Daehyun.

            “It’s about time I went home.” Zelo said. He scooted his chair up before standing and then he looked down at Youngjae. “Want a ride?”

            “Of course.” Youngjae smiled tensely and stood up. ‘Like I have a choice.’

            The two waved goodbye to their remaining classmates and walked to the door.

            “She is so lucky! Zelo spends so much time with her!”

            “Doesn’t he realize she is a lesbian?! She’ll never be with him.”

            “You never know, maybe Zelo could turn her straight.”

            “I wish I could be a lesbian if it meant I could spend time with Zelo.”

            Youngjae sighed as she heard what they said.  ‘You would think they would learn to gossip quietly but no… no wonder they have so many conflicts between them.’

            Youngjae felt a hand on her waist and looked up just as Zelo bent down to whisper in her ear. “If only they knew you weren’t actually a lesbian. They might actually get mad at you, wouldn’t they?”

            A shiver went down Youngjae’s spine. She tried to think of a comeback, but nothing came to her mind.

            Zelo laughed as he straightened and opened the exit door. “Don’t be so scared, Youngjae. I already agreed not to tell anyone.”

            “In exchange for me meeting with you whenever you call, I feel like I got the short end of the stick here.” Youngjae sighed.

            “That’s what happens when you make deals when you are drunk.” Zelo’s lips twitched into a smile. “I had my doubts before that party, but you certainly made yourself obvious.”

            Youngjae scowled as they approached Zelo’s car. “I still don’t see what you get out of this. I didn’t think my popularity was enough to actually enough to make you more popular. In fact, I think I have lost you a few fangirls.”

            “Yes… but you are interesting. I’ve liked having you around.”

            Youngjae rolled his eyes. “And you aren’t sick of me yet?”

            “No, quite the opposite.”

            Youngjae looked up at Zelo curiously as he opened the passenger door for her. “What?”

            Zelo motioned for her to get in. Once she was, he hurried to the other side and fired up the engine. He peeled out of the parking lot and raced down the road. Youngjae was used to this fast speed since it was something Zelo did regularly. He never got pulled over though. It probably helped that his father was the chief of police and his mother was the President of the country.

            Youngjae flipped her hair behind her shoulder and crossed her arms before looking at Zelo. “You going to explain?”

            “Is it weird that I like your company?”

            “Yes,” Youngjae waited for Zelo to answer, but sensing the other wasn’t going to say anything, she sighed and looked out of the window. “Before that party you didn’t pay me the time of day. After you found I was pretending to be in a relationship with my best friend was when I became interesting to you. There can’t be any reason for you to keep me around anymore.”

            Zelo smirked. “I’m not the only one you thought you were lying about being lesbian, but I probably had the best reason to not believe it. Tell me, Youngjae, do you still want to date me?”

            Youngjae scowled. “You didn’t answer my question.”

            Zelo laughed. “So quickly girls’ hearts change. You wrote in the letter that I was everything to you, but then a few months later you turn around and start, not only dating another person, but a girl? I was quite interested in you, Youngjae.”

            “But then you found out the truth.”

            “More like you told me.” Zelo chuckled. “So easy, Youngjae, you were so easy. Just a few drinks and you didn’t even hesitate to answer my question about how you and Daehyun started dating.”

            Youngjae felt a stab of pain in her heart at the mention of Daehyun. ‘I’m not betraying her right now… I’m saving us from more bullying! I messed up by telling Zelo and now I need to fix it so we can survive high school.’

            “Zelo,” Youngjae sighed out, tired of their exchange already.

            “Do you like hanging out with me, Youngjae?”

            Youngjae looked at Zelo, surprised. “Well…” she had to take a minute to think. “Most of the time, yeah I do. Except for how you make me spend time with you every day and when you hint at me not being a lesbian in front of people, I like being with you.”

            As Zelo slowed the car to a stop in front of Youngjae’s house, the car was silent.

            Youngjae looked at Zelo trying to find out what was in the younger’s head, but eventually gave up and shook her head. “I’ll see you later, Zelo.”

            As she went to open the door, it locked. “Wait.”

            “Zelo?” She was more irritated than angry. She could still unlock the door herself, so she knew she wasn’t in danger.

            “Do you still want to date me?”

            “What? Where is this coming from?”

            “Can’t you just answer the question?” Zelo looked at Youngjae with a serious expression.

            “I…” Youngjae hesitated. “I have Daehyun.”

            Zelo scoffed. “You both aren’t even really dating.”

            “Ye—“ Youngjae stopped herself, surprised at how fast she was to deny Zelo. ‘Why do I feel so guilty not denying Zelo though? It’s true that we are only faking it.’

            “Youngjae,” Zelo grabbed Youngjae’s hand. “I want to be your boyfriend. Can’t you stop the charade so you can have real happiness?”

            “I am happy though…” Youngjae said quietly as her head swam with all this new information.

            “You don’t want to date me?”

            “I…I don’t know…”

            Zelo scowled. “You don’t know?”

            “I can’t just dump Daehyun—“

            “You aren’t even really dating!”

            “But…” Youngjae shook her head. “I need time to think.”

            Zelo sighed. “I’m not very patient.”

            “I know.”

            Zelo ran his fingertips gently across Youngjae’s jaw. “Don’t make me wait too long.”

            Youngjae nodded and exited the car before she said or did something she would regret later. As Zelo sped off her shakily pulled her phone out of her pocket and texted Daehyun a message.

            Can we talk?

            Daehyun was almost home after hanging out with Yongguk when she felt her phone vibrate. She didn’t look at the phone quickly, instead going into a convenient store, knowing it wouldn’t be anything important since her parents were out of the country for work and Youngjae was off doing who knew what.

            She frowned at the thought and picked up a second chocolate bar. The sweet things would help dull the pain in her heart, so she reasoned with herself.

            “I’m surprised at how skinny you are if you can eat all that candy.” A girl from school appeared in the aisle.

            Daehyun laughed and pretended to smile, needing to keep up appearances. “I guess I just have a fast metabolism.”

            “Wow, I’m really jealous!” The girl exclaimed.

            Daehyun laughed weakly and waved as she headed to the line, too tired to deal with this random girl.

            Once she was out of sight, Daehyun sighed and let her shoulders droop. ‘I usually like talking with people. I’m just in a funky mood and I couldn’t really explain it to Yongguk…’

            She made it to the front of the store and found the end of the line. Seeing that she had a lot of time before it was her turn, she decided to check who had messaged her.

            Immediately her eyes widened. She tapped on the view message button so quickly that she almost dropped her snacks.

            Can we talk?

            Of course! When? Daehyun replied immediately to Youngjae.

            Her heart skipped a beat when she received an alert almost immediately. Seeing the message she dropped her things on the shelf nearby and ran out of the store. She checked it once again to make sure she read it correctly.

            Now? At the park we went to a lot as kids?

            ‘Maybe she misses me too!’ Daehyun smiled and picked up the speed so that she could get to her best friend’s side faster.

            By the time she reached the park that was almost exactly between Youngjae and her house, she was out of breath. Hand against the streetlight, that had just , she looked around the small place until her eyes landed on Youngjae, who was sitting on one of the benches by herself.

            “Youngjae,” Daehyun breathed out. She flattened her hair out and walked the rest of the way.

            Youngjae looked over, hearing Daehyun approaching and smiled. “Daehyun.”

            Daehyun smiled at Youngjae’s smile, “How are you?”

            Youngjae’s smile faltered. “I have a lot I need to tell you.”

            Daehyun chuckled as she sat down across from Youngjae. Her smile felt genuine which felt nice. Her heartbeat sped up, and not just because of her running earlier. “Yeah, it has been a long time.”

            “It hasn’t been that long.” Youngjae reached across the table and pushed Daehyun’s shoulder.

            ‘Huh?’ Daehyun looked at Youngjae closely trying to decipher if she was joking or not. It was hard in the growing darkness though. “Youngjae, are you kidding?”

            “What? Why would I be kidding?”

            “I… we…” Daehyun sighed and waved it off, trying not to show just how much her mood was changing. The smile dropped away and she went into best friend mode, which was still nice. “What did you want to talk about?”

            Daehyun sat there as Youngjae began to talk about Zelo. Immediately after hearing his name, Daehyun had a hard time keeping a frown from her face. She knew how much Youngjae had liked the younger rich boy and Daehyun had been jealous of him ever since Youngjae laid eyes on him. As Youngjae got to the part where Zelo tricked the information out of her, Daehyun pursed her lips; her bad mood was quickly worsening.

            Daehyun didn’t comment yet, just saying little words here and there so Youngjae knew that she was still listening. It was hard for her not to say anything, to tell Youngjae she wasn’t acting like herself, to tell her that Zelo was treating her like crap, or to tell her all the things on her mind. It wasn’t until Youngjae began speaking about what had happened tonight that Daehyun became utterly speechless.

            “So, I don’t know what to do!” Youngjae babbled on. “I just can’t think and I’m so divided. I want to date Zelo, god, you know I want to date him, but… I also don’t… I don’t understand.”

            “For starters, I can’t believe you didn’t tell me any of this.” Daehyun finally said.

            “I didn’t want to worry you.” Youngjae said quickly. “But Daehyun, what do you think I should do?”

            Daehyun glared. “You didn’t want to worry me?”

            “Dae—“

            Daehyun stood up, effectively making Youngjae turn quiet. “You are being so selfish right now, Youngjae. You didn’t want me to worry? Don’t make me laugh. Hanging out with Zelo was a way to boost your popularity—you didn’t think about me once. If you had then you would have spared me a moment of your time—“

            “What are you talking about?!” Youngjae asked flabbergasted. “We hang out every day!”

            “We hang out at school and that’s only when we are in front of people. Even then, you barely talk me, instead talking to everyone else while you play with my hair. Do you even remember the last time we hung out?” Daehyun was on the verge of a yelling as her eyes began to water.

            “Yes! It was… it was umm…” Youngjae bit his fingernail as she thought about it.

            Daehyun scoffed. “That’s what I thought,” she shook her head and started walking away from the table. “Do what you want Youngjae, I don’t care anymore.”

            “But—“

            “Like I said, we don’t even talk anymore, so just do what you want. Consider us broken up.”

            With that Daehyun ran away from the table before Youngjae could notice the tears running down her face. She ran and ran until she had to brace herself against a wall to keep from falling over. The tears weren’t stopping as she slid against the wall until she was sitting on the ground.

            Daehyun’s phone vibrated and when she checked it she noticed seven missed calls and two text messages from Youngjae.

            ‘I can’t do this right now. I can’t do this… I just lost my best friend and my crush and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Why couldn’t she like me?’

            Another vibration sent her into another sobbing fit but when she looked at the screen she noticed it was from Yongguk. Hovering over the message, unable to read it through her tears, her finger slid to the call button. Before she was truly aware of what she was doing she heard Yongguk’s voice from the phone.

            “Yongguk?”

            “Daehyun… Are you okay?”

            Daehyun sniffed and wiped her eyes. “I know we already talked today, but, if it isn’t too late, can I come visit you again?”

            “Want to tell me the truth this time?” Yongguk asked seriously.

            A sob escaped Daehyun’s throat. “Yes. Please help me; I don’t know what to do.”

            “Where are you?” Daehyun could hear keys jingling from the other end of the phone.

            Daehyun looked around and gave Yongguk the street names.

            “Don’t move, Daehyun. I’ll be there soon.”

            “Thanks, Yongguk.” Daehyun hung up the phone.

            Even though her phone continued to vibrate she felt a little better knowing that Yongguk was on his way. She felt safer and cared for, which she hadn’t felt in a while, from a friend. It was nice to not feel alone after the person she always counted on to be there abandoned her.

a/n: Did you guys watch the excuse me mv?!!?? aahhhhh I'm dying >.< 

I was feeling pretty nice after watching it so I decided to finish this chapter :P 

Hope you like it~~

comment and let me know what you think/ criticism/ pointers on grammar/spelling whatever

Thanks for reading!