Suji kept calling.
Yeseul kept ignoring it.
"Leave me alone," she told the phone. It wasn't her cell – she'd turned that off because it kept ringing. Now it was the home phone. Yeseul was about to unplug it. Because it kept ringing.
The phone silenced. Yeseul stared at it, not moving a muscle, as though daring it to ring again.
When it did, her body gave a violent twitch. She picked up the phone and slammed it down on the receiver. "Leave me alone!"
She didn't want to go tonight. Why could nobody understand that? Why did no one understand that she couldn't bear to face Fullsun again – this time, there would be no masks, and he would find out who she was.
He'd see her, but not recognise her, and soon he'd see that his supposedly perfect girl was nothing more than a servant in her own home who had stains on her T-shirt and lived in the attic.
Yeseul couldn't even pretend that graduation was the end of it, and she could go her own way, not anymore. Fullsun was going to the same place. She'd never be rid of him.
When the phone rang again, Yeseul let out a wail and ran outside. She slammed the front door shut, effectively blocking out all noise, and any sound of the phone ringing.
Then she curled up on the front step, burying her face in her arms. Goosebumps erupted all over her skin from the cold, seeping in from the stone steps through her jeans.
"Well, that was a little overdramatic, don't you think?"
Yeseul jerked her head up in surprise. Standing in front of her was a sight that filled her with a sense of eerie déjà vu – here she was, the night of a dance, angry and frustrated and nearly overwhelmed by a feeling of loneliness, and someone showed up to save her.
"Hyuna?" Lucy asked, voice cracking.
"That's my name, don't wear it out." Hyuna sounded impatient, crossing her arms. "I sure hope you didn't lock yourself out, because I don't have any keys."
"I..." Yeseul looked at her in wonder. "What are you doing here?"
"Suji cornered me at the dance," she said. "She says you haven't been answering her all night."
"I don't want to go to the dance-"
"Well, tough luck, because you have to," Hyuna interrupted. "Suji was calling you about more than just that." She crouched beside Yeseul so they were eye level. "Hyunji knows you snuck out to Halloween. She has your other shoe. She's going to try and convince Lee Donghyuck that she was you." Hyuna's eyes dimmed, and she looked down. "I knew about the whole time. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but I..."
"It's okay," Yeseul reassured her, pulling Hyuna into a tight hug. "You're here now."
The hug was sweet while it lasted. Then something Hyuna said clicked in Yeseul brain, and she pushed her back. "Wait, Donghyuck?"
"Oh yeah. That Fullsun guy or whoever you're so in love with is just Donghyuck. Suji and Jaemin found out, because apparently he's been moping over some girl for weeks." Hyuna looked pointedly at her. "Some girl he met at Halloween."
"Oh." Yeseul felt very small. Also like the world has just opened up underneath her and she was free-falling into darkness. "Donghyuck?"
"Yeah. And I know Donghyuck. He's a class-five certified idiot, and he might just believe the bullshit story Hyunji feeds him. Meaning," Hyuna stood up triumphantly, "you have to haul ass to that dance so you can save your Prince Charming from putting the shoe on the wrong girl."
