She was the perfect student. She would always do their school work. She would involve herself in extra curricular activities. She would always help the teachers and her fellow students. Studies would always be her priority.

She was the perfect daughter. She would always follow her parents' orders. She would always be a good sister to her sibling. She would always understand her family's needs and help them with their problems. Family would always be her concern.

She was the perfect best friend. She would always support his correct decisions and straighten his wrong acts. She would always help him when he needs it. She would be a shoulder to cry on when he is in pain. Friendship would always be her choice.

That's what everyone knows.

But is that all it is?

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Euphie heard her alarm ring. Time to school. She got out of bed and started to do her daily morning routine. When she arrived at school, a student approached her. "President, we have already finished what you've told us to do. What should we do next?" the club member asked. "Oh. Just design the bulletin board. When I passed by it, it was very boring to look at." she replied. "Got that, pres." the student then went away. When she reached the classroom, the vice president went gave her some papers and told her that the papers contains all the activities needed to be done by the end of the month. Seeing how thick the stack of papers are, she stutters an 'okay' to the vice president. She then places her bag in her desk and sighs deeply. What can she do? She was the president of her club and of the whole school. She has to do her responsibilities- even if she never really wanted to. Suddenly, a teacher came into the room and said that she needed to see her. When she approached the teacher, the older told her "Can you please help me in checking the test papers of your classmates? It'll really help me a lot." feeling ashamed, she nodded and took the test papers with her as she began to check it in her desk.

She stares the papers on her desk. ' I'm so tired of this. When will this end? Everyone thinks that I am perfect. That I can do everything. Can't they see that I'm so done with all the things they have entrusted me? I'm not a superhero. I'm not Superman. Why? Why does it have to be like this? The pressure is slowly killing me.' her thoughts slowly devoured her mind.

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When she reached home, she was boomed by the loud voice of her mother. "I'm so proud of you, my child!" Curious to what is happening inside, she opened the door only to see her mom hugging her little sister and her dad patting the younger's head. When they noticed her presence, her mother explained everything to her."Euphie, your younger sister has just won an award in her school!" her mother turns back to Euphie's sister. "You made us so happy today, dear. Isn't that right, love?" she asked the father. "Of course, love. How about you, Euphie? Aren't you proud of your sister?" Euphie smiled. It was a smile with two meanings: a smile that hides the pain and a smile that shows her sisterly love of how truly proud she is. "Of course I am! That's my little sister, right?" She approached her sister and gave her a hug. "Thank you, unnie." you heard your sibling say. "No problem, sis." she gave her a smile. When she broke free from the hug, she said "I'm kinda tired right now. I'll be in my room."She then headed to the stairs as she climbed up.

When she reached her room, she locked it and slides herself down on the floor. She hugs her knees as big tears came out of her face. She tried to hide her sobs yet the muffled noises she makes can still be heard.'Why can't they see my hard work?! All the pressure, all the awards and honors, all the pain and sacrifice I've gone through. Can't they just appreciate it? Is it that hard for them? Is it not enough!?' her thoughts cried out loud as she released a silent scream. It hurts. It felt like her heart was torn into pieces. She went near her bed and threw her bag somewhere the floor. No, she doesn't care about her current condition. All she wanted was to cry until she falls asleep. And, she did.

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The next morning, she was woken up by the sound of her phone ringing. "Hello?" she groggily asked. "Hey! Its me, Kai!" hearing the sound of his voice made Euphie's heart squeal in delight. "Oh, Kai! Why did you call early in the morning?" she asked him. "Well, I wanted to talk to you. Can you come to the park this morning?" he asked. "Sure! Wait for me there." she told him. Euphie then immediately got out of bed and fixed herself to go outside. Kai is Euphie's bestfriend. They were together for ages. But as time passed by, feelings changed. You know what I mean, right? And yet Euphie never told Kai what she truly feels. Maybe she was just really a chicken. Or maybe because she knows Kai likes someone else: Chorong. That perfect angel in their class. What's worse? Kai is courting Chorong and he always asks for Euphie's aid. Just the thought of hearing the one you love talking about being in love with someone else breaks her heart. But what can she do? She was his bestfriend. He needed her support. But Euphie hopes that at least. At least Kai would look at her in a different way.

When Euphie reached the park, she saw Kai. She run towards him only to see he was someone else. Chorong. The two were talking and smiling at each other. When she saw their lovey dovey moment, Euphie wanted to walk away but Kai saw her and had no choice but to go their place. When she reached their position, she plastered a 'smile' and asked her bestfriend. "What is it that you wanted to tell me?" Kai smiled at you. "Euphie, thank you for everything. I've never been so grateful in my whole entire life. Because of you, I've been succesful in my life." she nodded to what he said. "Well, I wanted you to be the first to know this." he grabbed Chorong's hand and raised it. "We are officially dating!" He told her with a wde grin in his face. Broken. That was a word to describe what Euphie felt. It hurts so much it feels like she is dying. But instead of showing the pain, she smiled at couple. "Congratulations! You two would make a great couple!" What could she do? She is a bestfriend. Just a bestfriend. No matter how hard it is to accept., its gonna stay that way. "Thank you, Euphie. Its good to have your blessing." Chorong said to her. You can't deny that Chorong is a sweet girl. You just can't hate her. "No problem." she smiled. However, when she felt her eyelids heat up, she know it was time to leave before anything bad happens. "Uhm, I gotta go. I'm needed at my house, you see. Bye!" without hearing their farewell, she runned into a place where noone can see her. When reached that place, she just cannot control anything from her anymore as her tears continuously flow out of her eyes without stopping. "So I guess I never really had a chance with Kai. I guess this is not my love story. I guess the truth is waking me up from my daydreams." she attempted to stop her tears from flowing by wiping her face but it won't. " I knew this from the start but why? Why does it still hurt so much?"

Perfection. What can it really do for our lives?

---------------------------

It was another day and Euphie did the very same thing she does every morning. If only she was given more time to sleep, she would. But life is cruel.She was busy with almost anything and everything. Well, who would want to see a school president late for class anyway?

When she arrived in school, the students were throwing suspicious- even disgusted- looks to her. 'What is happening? Why are they throwing dirty looks on me?' she was nervous as she walked down the hall when suddenly she saw a lot of students gather up the bulletin board. It was then Euphie realized that the school has announced the top 10 of each year level. Euphie was used to being top 1 or sometimes top 2 in her school year level. So when she went near the the bulletin board, she was surprised to see her name as..........top 4!? Euphie was befuddled. 'How could that be!? I've never done anything wrong this year! Why did this happen!?' and something clicked in her head.'No wonder the students would give dirty looks. They're disgusted that I'm only in the top 4.' she can only sigh of the situation and go to her classroom to place her things. When she arrived in her room, not a single soul would come near her. It was like she had a disease that could kill mankind. Just then, the bully of their class appeared. He saw Euphie and approached her slowly. "Well, well, well. If it isn't our president." When he reached your position, he said "Oh, yeah! Its not just our president. She is also the president of failures!" Everybody in the class laughed along with him. Euphie...... Euphie could only keep her head down. 'Why are they like this?' she thought to herself. Just then, a teacher looked for her and excused her from the situation she came near the door and the teacher spoke. "Have you done the project I've assigned to you?" "What!? you mean its due date is today!?" Euphie was surprised. The teacher sighed and said "Nevermind. I'll just find another project to use as a model. I was actually expecting a lot from you. I'm disappointed." she turned her heels and walked away.

Euphie was on the verge of crying. She felt like a failure. She felt like she was a great shame. Yet, this is the first time she has failed. It was just her first. Why did her failure have to matter so much? Because she is 'perfect'. ' I'm tired of this. I'm tired of all this pressure. I just can't take it anymore.' A single tear escaped in her eye as she went back her classroom and continued her wrecked day.

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When she arrived home, her mother and father had unpainted looks on their faces while eyeing their oldest daughter. "Mom, Dad, what's wrong?" "You have failed us, dear." they told her. "Huh? What do you mean, mom?" she was confused. "Why are you on top 4?" her father sternly asked, leaving her utterly surprised. How could they know such a thing? "How did you knew such a thing?" Euphie managed to stutter. "That's not important! We wanna know why you are JUST on Top 4!" her mom shouted. No. Euphie's mom never shouts on her. So, why now? "I-I'm sorry. I wou-" "Sorry!? You think that sorry would help you!? You think that sorry would change anything!? We thought we could trust on you, Euphie! We put all our hopes on you! And now you fail us like its nothing! You worthless child!" her father slapped her.Trust? Hopes? Since when did they show those to Euphie? Ha. Never in a million years. And now they call her 'worthless' when they have not even praise her good work just once? They saw her mistakes, not her successes. 'So this is how they repay me? How nice. I feel so loved. I feel so loved that my heart was crushed into pieces. Why? Why can they just see my flaws? Why can't they see that I've done something good? Oh. I almost forgot. I'm 'PERFECT'. Ha. How stupid of me.' Euphie thought in her head. Her parents were still talking and shouting in front of her but she can't hear a thing, as if she was deaf. She had enough. She just can't seem to absorb everything all at once. She unconsciously dropped her bag on the floor and walked out of the house. From afar, Euphie could hear her parents shouting her name but she didn't care. How could she with all the pain she is feeling?

-----------------------------------------

Euphie went to the park near their home. She doesn't have any place to cool down so she stayed there for a while. She wanted a shoulder to cry on, however only one is fitted for the position: Kai. So, she decided to call him. When he finally picked up, Euphie could tell the boy was not in a good mood. "what!?" he angrily told the other line. However, Euphie did not mind. She just wanted someone to comfort her and tell her everything is okay. "Kai, can you please come here at the park? Please?" she told Kai. "why? is it something important?" he told her like he was annoyed. "Kinda. please, Kai?" she begged at her best friend. In the other line, she heard Kai hiss and dropped the call. When Kai arrived at the park, the first thing Euphie was to hug him leaving Kai befuddled. "Euphie! What are-" "Just let me hug you. Just this time. Just once. Please." she told him. Kai lets go of the embrace. "What!? You made come here just to hug me!?" he shouted at her. "Huh!? No! Its not-" "You just wasted my time, Euphie!" Kai cuts through her words. 'What? I'm a waste of time? Is that how he sees me now?' Euphie thoughts ringed in her head. "Did you know that I was spending my last moments with Chorong!? Euphie, Chorong is leaving to Japan this evening! And you just made me come here for hug!? Seriously!? Chorong needs me!" Kai continues what he said. He was about to leave when Euphie stopped him. "But I need you too, Kai! Why are you choosing her? I'm your bestfriend!" she told him 'Just let me be selfish. Just this time.' "But she is my girlfriend!" "But I love you!" Euphie know this is crazy, but its the only way to gain Kai back. Kai's reply, however, only broke her heart into pieces. "But I love her, Euphie. I'm sorry." he then went away. Euphie could only watch Kai's shadow slowly disappear in the moonlight. Unknowingly, hot tears escaped from her eyes like rivers- it was unstoppable. Sobs could be heard from . Euphie could feel her knees weaken as she land on the ground. It hurts. It hurts so much she could feel herself like she was dying. 'What am I gonna do now?' She was dying. Dying inside herself.

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Along the streets of Seoul, Euphie's body lifelessly walks on the ground. She felt so numb, so weak. She could feel every piece of her body break and tear apart. She lost everything, all in one day. She felt the truth slap her from reality, all in just one mistake.

Perfect student? More like perfect pressure.

Perfect daughter? More like perfect second choice.

Perfect bestfriend? More like perfect friend-zoned.

After a few moments, she felt herself kneel on the ground. 'Why? Why does this have to happen to me? What did I do to deserve all of this?' she whispered in the air. 'I just wanted to be happy. To be free.' she looked up to the sky.

Blinded by all the things that happened to her, she fished out her phone from her pocket as she went to the "Recorder" section of the phone and pressed the "record" button. When she was finished, she placed her phone back to her pocket and stood up as she walked down the road. She heard people screaming, tires screeching, and even herself falling on the ground. She even felt her cold blood stream out her body through her severe bruises. Yet, she did not mind. "Its okay, Euphie. Everything will be alright now. You can be finally happy now." she said as everything around her slowly faded. Her senses were defunctioning. She slowly could not see, hear nor feel anything. Her eyes slowly closed and the force from her hand fades. Everything, for her, disappeared.

----------------------------------------------------

Kai was slowly walking away from the airport. Chorong just left for her flight to Japan. RIght now, Kai should be very sad, but he was not. He was emotionally confused. He does not know what he really feels.

Back then, his feelings were only for Chorong. Yet, hearing Euphie's confession made his heart skip a beat. Suddenly, all of his memories with Euphie flashed into his mind. Recalling her smiles, her laughter, the way she places her hair behind her ear and many other things she does made Kai's heartbeat race. Then it hit him: Kai loved Euphie from the start. Ever since they were young, Kai's heart races whenever he is with Euphie. His cheeks would warm up when his friends would and Euphie together. He would be happy just seeing her smile. But then Chorong entered the scene. When Euphie was busy with everything around her, Kai met Chorong. Chorong was just like Euphie. The difference? Chorong had time for Kai. Euphie doesn't. Kai thought he was in love with Chorong when he was actually in love with Euphie. But then, Kai can still somehow differentiate his love for Chorong and his love for his bestfriend. He feels infatuation when he is with Chorong, but whenever he is with Euphie, he felt like he found his way home. He felt like he is in the place where he belongs. After moments of thinking, Kai came up with a conclusion: He loved Euphie, not Chorong. 'Ugh! How could I've been so stupid!?' he said in his thoughts. " I have to see Euphie." he told to himself. Just then, his phone rang.

He looked at his phone, only to see it was Euphie's sister calling him. "Hey, what's wrong?" he told her as he picked the call up. "O-Oppa.... U-Unnie......." "What? What happened to Euphie?" he told her as he heard the voice from the other line sob.

"O-Oppa, U-Unnie got inv-volved in a s-severe a-accident."

Those words rang in Kai's ears. "WHAT!? WHY!? WHAT HAPPENED? WHERE IS SHE RIGHT NOW!?" He said as he panicked. "We're in the xxx h-hospital right now. O-Oppa....." he did not hear what the girl
said for he hung up the phone and went away as soon as possible.

When he arrived at the hospital, he saw Euphie's father comforting her mother while Euphie's sister is sitting down on a chair crying as tears fell from her eyes. "What happened?" Kai asked. "Unnie got hit by car. *sobs* We never thought this would happen to her. Just of nowhere we got a call saying if this was the family of Unnie. That's when they told us about it. *sobs* Eotteokke?" "H-how is s-she?" "The doctors said she is in a critical condition. They are trying their best to save her, though." The girl said as she continuously sobs. Suddenly, the doctor comes near them as he takes of his surgical hat. Euphie's mom then holds the doctor's shoulders, saying "How is Euphie!? Is she okay!?" Only to be replied by the most unwanted words.

"I'm sorry, ma'am but we did our best. The patient could no longer hold on."

Hearing those words made Kai's knees go weak until he fell in the ground. Why? Why does it have to be too late? Why is it when he found what his heart was truly yearning, it suddenly disappeared? How can he go on? Thoughts filled Kai's mind as he stare at nothingness. He could hear the distress calls of Euphie's family but he did not care. He was utterly shocked.

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Kai stayed in the hospital for the rest of the night. He just sits on the floor helplessly as he stares at the opposite wall. Time by time, tears would run on his cheeks. He did not see the body of Euphie for he still can't believe the girl he loves is now dead. Everything happen so suddenly. How could he swallow the information all at once?

All of a sudden, a nurse approaches Kai. "Excuse me, are you somehow related to Euphie Lee?" "Y-yes, I am. Why? Is there something wrong?" "Here is her cellphone. We found it in her pocket. I am supposed to give it to the family but they went somewhere to process some papers so I'll just give it to you." The nurse hands in the phone and leaves.

Kai turns the phone only to see the phone was in the recording section of it. He was about to press the exit butoon when an audio file caught his eyes. It was weird. Why is this audio file the last history of Euphie's phone? ANd it clicked. "Could this be Euphie's last words?" Kai told himself as he widens his eyes. Upon realization, he presses the "play" button and hears the words he thought would never from her: words of desparation.

"They say perfection can give you everything in this world. But why? Why am I so unhappy? Why can't I have things I love? They say I'm perfect but why can't I feel it? Rather, I feel pain. Pressure. Sadness. Locked inside myself. It hurts so much. I feel like a bomb- I could explode as time has reached its limit. But the worst part? Noone cares. All they see in me is perfection. Why? I'm only human. I make mistakes. I have feelings. Just like everyone else. Can't I just be normal? Wait. Am I not human? Did I deserve all of this? I just want the pain to stop. I want to be free. I want to be happy. But I can't. Wanna know why? Because I'm "perfect". It is the hindrance to my happpiness. That's why at least just once, I want to experience freedom and happiness again just like I did when I was young. I wanted the pain to stop. However, I realized that there is no way out. I can't rewind what has started already. So, I have decided to just end it all. End everything. If I do, I will be happy and free, right? So I guess I have to say my final message right? *chuckles* I know noone would be interested in hearing this, but here it is: Perfection is not the key to success but is the door to self-destruction. I hope noone makes the same mistakes I did, that's why I am telling this. Goodbye. As much as I wanted to stay, I can't because the pain is too heavy to carry now. Thank you for everything. May we meet again in another journey."

-The End-

A/N: Please read the next chapter. Thank You.