AMITIÉ | Stray Kids

chapter three

mishaps

The class had started, but Hea was nowhere to be seen. She occasionally arrived late, but 30 minutes was pushing it. When lunch break arrived, Felix invited their new friend to join their group.

"Really? I can join again?" She smiled brightly, jumping up and down.

"Yeah, let's go!" Felix replied as they made their way to the cafeteria, where they spotted Jisung, Seungmin and Minho

"Where's Hea?" Jisung asked, glancing around.
"She didn't come to school today," Felix said as he sat down with her, who was busy greeting the others.

"That's strange. She never skips classes," Minho remarked.

"Maybe it's because of her boyfriend?" Jisung chimed in.

"I think so too. She's been acting really strange lately. What if that guy has been influencing her? That would explain why she was so rude yesterday," Minho agreed.

"She has a boyfriend?" she asked curiously, and the others nodded.

"Yep, but she hasn't told us about it yet," Jisung said, a hint of disappointment in his voice over the fact that she hadn't mentioned it to them.

"Then how do you know she has a boyfriend?" Mirae inquired.

"We saw her with him," Minho replied.

"Not that I'm trying to invade your friendship with her, but it's unhealthy for her to keep this from you guys. You deserve to know since you're her friend," she said with a comforting smile.

"I agree. To be honest, she's very secretive about her life. She never mentions anything related to her family or past. We respect her desire for privacy, but we're her friends-why would she keep things from us?" Jisung said sadly.

"So you think she doesn't trust you?" she asked.

"Kind of," Jisung replied.

"Seriously, guys? You're talking behind Hea's back? Have you ever considered that there might be reasons for her behavior instead of jumping to conclusions about her not trusting you? That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard," Seungmin interjected angrily.

"Yah, Kim Seungmin! What's with you?" Minho muttered, glaring at him.

"It's not about me and Hea, it's about your actions for not even checking up on her. I should be asking what's wrong with you three! She's our friend-why would you act so insensitively?" Seungmin shot back.

"You're acting really childish right now, Seung," Minho snickered.

Seungmin stood up from his seat and slammed his hands on the table. "I'm just doing what a real friend should do! Hea is not feeling well because of her cramps, and instead of checking on her to find out why she didn't come to school, you decide to gossip about how secretive she is regarding her personal matters. How disappointing!" he voiced out before storming off.

"She's sick..." Jisung repeated softly as he pulled out his phone.

The group fell silent as they reflected on their insensitivity.