Eight Shots of Espresso | Na Jaemin

Chapter 20

"First, she smudged Karina's lipstick, then burned the hem of Ningning's skirt, and now she cut the photocard on Winter's newly purchased album. Good thing none of those items were extremely expensive. I think we have enough evidence to confirm her intentions," Giselle updated you while both of you were eating ice cream at the living room.

You were spacing out the entire time, still couldn't get that scenario out of your head. You didn't know why you felt so miserable. It's not as if your boyfriend cheated on you or anything, but it hurts a lot.

"What's the progress with yours?" Giselle asked.

"Good," you answered blankly.

"How good? Tell me the details," Giselle said.

However, she was surprised when a single tear cascaded down your cheek, followed by another until your shoulders were shaking. You were sobbing uncontrollably now and Giselle hugged you.

"What's wrong?" Giselle asked softly.

"I don't know... I don't know why I'm feeling like this... I'm not supposed to be hurting this way..." you answered in between your sobs. You felt pathetic crying over something that you were not supposed to be concerned about. You proceeded to tell Giselle everything that you saw and she listened to you. By the time that you finished your story, you already stopped crying and your eyes stung.

"(Name), have you assessed your feelings?" Giselle asked. "Take your time to understand what you truly feel or it will haunt you every day. Because I don't think this is an ordinary situation for you. I think you like him, (Name). You sincerely like Na Jaemin."

For the first time, you didn't contradict the idea. You let it sink in and processed your emotions. You wouldn't be hurting right now if you didn't harbor any special feelings towards him. But the question was when did you start feeling that way?

"You know, you don't have to follow the plan anymore. We have enough evidence. All we needed is to confront Nayoung," Giselle said.

You wiped your face with a tissue and fixed yourself. "No. I'll still do it. I have already started, might as well finish it. We still have to gather tangible evidences and only then can we confront her regarding the whole sabotage thing she's been doing."

I'm strong. I shouldn't cry over a guy. This is so stupidly embarrassing.

"And oh, did I mention that the seven boys are planning to reveal the identity of the person who posted our picture? I heard that they're trying to get a hold of the person who runs the page," you explained then stood up. "I'm going to sleep. I still have a lot of things to do tomorrow."

It was partly true, but what you really wanted to do was lie down on your bed and close your eyes until you lose track of time. You wanted to be there until you feel okay but that's impossible. You were afraid of the morning to come. You were too terrified to confront your own feelings. You had never felt this way before. Or maybe you did, but you were too ignorant to pay attention to it.

Damn, I don't wanna live anymore, you sulked. It took you a good long hour to fall asleep. You buried the worries in your mind. One thing at a time, you told yourself. It's overwhelming for you if you try to process everything all at the same time, so you convinced yourself to deal with things as they come your way.

The following days went on smoothly with you spending an ample amount of time with Doyoung. It was mostly about the necessary preparation for the upcoming festival. It also helped you to distract yourself, however, the overwhelming emotions would rain down on you all at once whenever nighttime comes.

Luckily, Nayoung's radar didn't miss your frequent interaction with Doyoung. She was aware. She was watching.

"Is there anything else that we missed?" Doyoung asked you one late afternoon. Doyoung was busy with his academics and yet he still managed to fulfill his duty as the department's President. He made sure to participate and you updated him with everything.